Distinguished Performers, Innovative Repertoire

PETERBOROUGH, NH: The Monadnock Music Festival announced its 46th season today with more of the innovative programming for which it is renowned and with a roster of distinguished performers. Presenting 28 concerts throughout the Monadnock Region this summer – in 18 locations ranging from small, intimate churches to Peterborough’s Town House and Jaffrey Center’s Meetinghouse ¬– the Festival features a stimulating mixture of seasoned musicians and exciting young talent.

The Monadnock Music Festival is now under the direction of executive director William J.H. Chapman, formerly of Opera Boston, and veteran artistic directors Jonathan Bagg and Laura Gilbert.

“The 2011 season offers fresh and inventive programming, as well as more traditional offerings from exceptional artists,” shares executive director Chapman. “Guests will delight in offerings from composers such as Pulitzer-prize winner Melinda Wagner, Paul Brantley, and this year’s Duke Composing Fellow, Bryan Christian, who will premiere a piece. Another highlight will be the performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll under Hugh Keelan. This season exemplifies what is distinctive about Monadnock Music and will reinforce our reputation as a premier summer destination for discerning music lovers across New England.”

The presence of Emily Dickinson will be felt the entire summer, with musical cameos in several village concerts, and a starring role in two Town House concerts. Poet and Dickinson scholar, Susan Snively, will introduce the concert July 23 and read two of Dickinson’s poems.

“Our Town House and Chamber Masterpieces series will range from chamber orchestra concerts to innovative, concept-based programs,” explains artistic director Bagg. “We’ll welcome the Borromeo and Chiara Quartets back this summer, celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible with the St. Catharine’s Choir, and enjoy the superb talents of Virginia Eskin, Krista River and Ilana Davidson, among others.”

This year again features the Mozart Trail, in which a different string quartet of Mozart (from the six quartets he dedicated to Haydn) will be performed each week at village concerts. Audiences can follow the trail from town to town to hear the entire set during the summer.

 

ABOUT MONADNOCK MUSIC

Now in its 46th year, Monadnock Music enriches the lives of people of all ages and walks of life, and deepens community by means of excellent and diverse programming throughout the beautiful Monadnock region of New Hampshire. It annually presents a six-week summer festival of solo, chamber and orchestral concerts in intimate venues situated in iconic New England settings less than two hours from Boston.

Among the many distinguished composers, ensembles and artists whose work Monadnock Music has presented or commissioned are Elliott Carter, John Adams, Mario Davidovsky, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, Peter Sellars, Borromeo Quartet, James Maddalena, D’anna Fortunato, Russell Sherman, New Zealand String Quartet, and Barbara Quintiliani.

In addition to its Peterborough Town House Concert Series featuring renowned artists from the world over, Monadnock Music also presents a series of Village Concerts bringing distinguished professional artists and progressive programming to various historic meeting houses and churches throughout the region free of charge, making some of the greatest works of the classical music canon accessible to all.

During the school year, MM provides vital music education support to the region’s elementary schools through its Lend An Ear! Program. Since its establishment in 1989, LAE! has enriched the lives of over 25,000 children.

Founded by James Bolle in 1966, Monadnock Music is now under the leadership of executive director William J. H. Chapman and artistic directors Jonathan Bagg and Laura Gilbert.

More information and program updates are available at: www.monadnockmusic.org

Ticketed concerts appear first and are in bold. Free concerts are listed second.

Performers:

VIOLIN: Gabriela Diaz, David Fulmer, Gerald Itzkoff, Curtis Macomber, Jesse Mills, Adela Peña, Eric Prichard

VIOLA: Jonathan Bagg, Stephanie Fong, Mary Hammann, Tawnya Popoff

CELLO: Elizabeth Anderson, Gregory Hesselink, Jing Li, Rafael Popper-Keizer

FLUTE: Laura Gilbert

OBOE: Willa Henigman

CLARINET: Steven Jackson, Alan Kay

HARP: Stacey Shames

PERCUSSION: Douglas Perkins

PIANO: Rieko Aizawa, Virginia Eskin, Jacob Greenberg, Randall Hodgkinson

CIMBALOM: Petra Berenyi

DANCE: Cherylyn Lavagnino, choreographer

VOCALISTS: James Anderson, Tony Arnold, Ilana Davidson, Jenna Rae, Krista River

ENSEMBLES: Aureole Trio, Borromeo Quartet, Chiara Quartet

CHOIRS: St. Catharine’s, NH Master Chorale

CONDUCTORS: Hugh Keelan, Dan Perkins, Edward Wickham

COMPOSERS: Paul Brantley, Bryan Christian (Duke Fellow), Eric Moe, Melinda Wagner

POET: Susan Snively

TICKETED CONCERTS

Thursday, July 7, 7:30 PM, Jaffrey Meetinghouse

St. Catharine’s Choir: The English Renaissance

In a concert honoring the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, director Edward Wickham brings the storied English choral tradition to New Hampshire with Cambridge University’s St. Catharine’s College Choir. Co-sponsored by the Walden School, Dublin, NH

Program will include works from the period of the King James Bible’s creation by Weelkes, Tomkins and John Milton; and music that reflects the continuing vitality of the English choral tradition, by Jonathan Harvey and Gabriel Jackson.

Saturday, July 9, 7:30 PM, Peterborough Town House

Essential Concerti

Tchaikovsky’s virtuosic Serenade for Strings, a selection of Handel arias, and a joyous concerto of Bach. Soloists: Ilana Davidson, soprano; Willa Henigman, oboe; Gabriela Diaz, violin; festival chamber orchestra

J. S. Bach: concerto in c minor for oboe & violin BWV 1060

G.F. Handel: selected arias with Ilana Davidson, soprano

Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48

Tuesday, July 12, 7:30 PM, Jaffrey Meetinghouse

Nicholas Kitchen: Illuminated Bach

The first violinist of the Borromeo Quartet performs and comments on selections from the Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, aided by projections of Bach’s original manuscripts.

Saturday, July 16, 7:30 PM, Peterborough Town House

Chamber Masterpieces I: The Borromeo Quartet

(Nicholas Kitchen, Kristofer Tong, violins; Mai Motobuchi, viola; Yeesun Kim, cello)

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in g minor, Op. 10

Daniel Brubaker: String Quartet No. 2 (2006) Dance for My Fathers

Beethoven: String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 74 “Harp”

Saturday, July 23, 7:30 PM, Peterborough Town House

Setting Emily: Dickinson’s poetry in music and dance

Emily Dickinson makes ever-deepening ripples in our culture with each passing generation. A favorite of composers, she has inspired music from Copland to Previn and beyond. Several concerts this summer celebrate and explore her genius and influence, with newly commissioned song settings and a dance performance commissioned for the occasion by choreographer Cherylyn Lavagnino

Introduction by Susan Snively, poet

André Previn: Three Dickinson Songs (Davidson, Hodgkinson)

Eric Moe: She Goes Her Spacious Way (Davidson, Gilbert, Pena, Popper-Keizer, Sponheimer)

Toru Takemitsu (with Lavagnino dance):

And Then I Knew ‘twas Wind (Gilbert, Bagg, Shames)

A Bird Came Down the Walk for viola and piano (Bagg, Hodgkinson)

Melinda Wagner: Four Settings for soprano and ensemble (Davidson, Gilbert, Kay, Mills, Bagg, Popper-Keizer, Sponheimer, Hodgkinson)

Sunday, July 24, 4 PM, Jaffrey Meetinghouse

Chamber Masterpieces II: The Chiara Quartet

(Rebecca Fischer and Julie Hye-Yung Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello)

Haydn: String Quartet Op. 54, No. 2 in C

Pierre Jalbert: Icefield Sonnets (with poet Anthony Hawley)

Brahms: String Quartet Op. 51, No. 2 in a minor

Saturday, July 30, 7:30 PM, Peterborough Town House

Vox Americana

The ideals and hardships of pioneer America have left their imprint on 200 years of our music. This concert knits together diverse examples, from early American communal singing to a late masterpiece of Dvořák.

Dvořák’s music was transformed by experiencing Native and African-American music.

Amazing Grace, arranged for cello and soprano (River, Popper-Keizer)

William Billings: music for chamber choir (Perkins, NH Master Chorale)

Robert Beaser: Mountain Songs for flute and guitar (Gilbert, Lippel)

Ben Johnston: String Quartet No. 4, Amazing Grace (Macomber, Pena, Fong, Hesselink)

Antonin Dvořák: String Quintet, Op. 97 “American” (Pena, Macomber, Bagg, Fong, Hesselink)

Sunday, July 31, 4 PM, Peterborough Town House

Emily and New England: Krista River, mezzo and Virginia Eskin, piano

Framed by music of Americans Amy Beach and Marion Bauer are famous settings of Emily Dickinson’s poetry by Aaron Copland and Gordon Getty

Amy Beach: Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92, No. 1; By the Still Waters; Theme and Variations on a Balkan Melody

Aaron Copland: Seven Poems of Emily Dickinson; Cat and Mouse for piano

Gordon Getty: Four Songs from The White Election

Marion Bauer: Star Trysts; From The New Hampshire Woods, Op. 12

Saturday, August 6, 7:30 PM, Peterborough Town House

Mahler and Wagner

Conductor Hugh Keelan’s labor of love, arranging Mahler’s great song-symphony “Das Lied von der Erde” for smaller ensemble, allows us to bring it and Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll”, two pinnacles of German romanticism, to the Town House stage.

Hugh Keelan, conductor; Jenna Rae, soprano and James Anderson, tenor

Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll for chamber ensemble

Gustav Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (arr. Keelan)

Sunday, August 7, 4PM, Jaffrey Meetinghouse

Chamber Masterpieces III

Brahms’ G major sextet ends this concert, which includes György Kurtág’s “Scenes from a Novel” for soprano and ensemble, among the contemporary master’s most celebrated pieces. Soprano Tony Arnold sings.

Maurice Ravel: Sonata for violin and cello (Pena, Anderson)

György Kurtág: Scenes from a Novel, Op. 19, for soprano, violin, double bass, and

cimbalom (Arnold, Diaz, Black, Berenyi)

Johannes Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G, Op. 36 (Macomber, Mills, Popoff, Bagg, Popper-Keizer, Anderson)

Sunday, August 14, 5 PM, Peterborough Town House

Chamber Masterpieces IV

The season’s final concert ends with a long AMEN: Schubert’s great C major Quintet; it again features soprano Tony Arnold in a luminous Bach cantata, and the work that put contemporary master Thomas Adès on the map, his “Five Eliot Landscapes”.

J.S. Bach: Cantata BWV 51 “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!” (Arnold, Itzkoff, Fulmer, Bagg, Popper-Keizer, Greenberg)

Thomas Adès: Five Eliot Landscapes, Op. 1 (Arnold, Greenberg)

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C with two cellos, D. 956 (Itzkoff, Fulmer, Fong, Popper-Keizer, Li)

FREE VILLAGE CONCERTS

Mozart Trail = *

Week I: July 5-10

Friday, July 8, 7:30 PM, Harrisville Community Church

*W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in C, K. 465 “Dissonance” (Pritchard, Diaz, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Charles Koechlin: Quintet for flute, harp and string trio Primavera (Gilbert, Diaz, Bagg, Popper-Keizer, Shames)

John Taverner: To a Child Dancing in the Wind for soprano, flute, viola, and harp (Davidson, Gilbert, Bagg, Shames)

Sunday, July 10, 4PM, Wilton Center Unitarian Church

(Same program as July 8, Harrisville)

Week II: July 12 -16

Wednesday, July 13, Hancock Community Church

Max Reger: Serenade in G, Op. 141a for flute, violin, and viola (Gilbert, Tong, Motobuchi)

*W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in A, K 464 (Borromeo Quartet)

Amy Beach: Theme and Variations for flute and String Quartet, Op 80 (Gilbert, Borromeo Quartet)

Friday, July 15, 7:30 PM, Francestown Old Meeting House

(Same program as July 13, Hancock)

Week III: July 19-24

Thursday, July 21, 7:30 PM, Deering Community Church

*Mozart: String Quartet in d minor, K. 421 (Pena, Mills, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Béla Bartók: Contrasts for clarinet, violin, and piano (Kay, Mills, Hodgkinson)

Carl Maria von Weber: Quintet in B-flat, Op. 34 for clarinet and strings (Mills, Pena, Bagg, Popper-Keizer, Kay)

Thursday, July 21, 7:30 PM, Keene, Ahavas Achim Synagogue

Aureole Trio (Gilbert, Hammann, Shames):

Selection of Celtic melodies

Jean-Phillipe Rameau: Pieces de Clavecin en Concerts

Kaija Saariaho: New Gates

Toru Takemitsu: And then I Knew T’was Wind

Maurice Ravel: Sonatine

Friday, July 22, 7:30 PM, Walpole Unitarian Church:

(Same program as July 21, Keene)

Friday, July 22, 7:30 PM, Rindge, Franklin Pierce University

(Same program as July 21, Deering)

Week IV: July 26-31:

Thursday, July 28, 7:30 PM, Rindge, Franklin Pierce University

William Byrd: songs for voice and guitar (River, Lippel)

*W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in E-flat, K. 428 (Macomber, Pena, Fong, Hesselink)

Andrew Earle Simpson: Six Mosaics of Ancient Rome for flute, viola, and guitar (Gilbert, Bagg, Lippel)

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet in A, Op. 18 (Pena, Macomber, Fong, Bagg, Hesselink)

Friday, July 29, 7:30 PM, Temple Community Church

(Same program as July 28, Rindge FPU)

Week V: August 2-7

Wednesday, August 3, 7:30 PM, Milford Town Hall

Olivier Messiaen: Theme and Variations for violin and piano (Mills, Aizawa)

Gabriel Faure: Sonata for violin and piano in A Major, Op.13 (Mills, Aizawa)

Paul Brantley: Syrinx-Double for flute and piano (Gilbert, Aizawa)

Franz Schubert: Fantasie for violin and piano, D. 934 (Mills, Aizawa)

Thursday, August 4, 7:30 PM, Peterborough All Saints’ Church

W.A. Mozart: Quartet in C major for flute and strings, K 285b (Gilbert, Diaz, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Paul Brantley: Two Songs (Dickinson premiere)

Alfred Schnittke: Hymn No. 2 (Popper-Keizer, Black)

L. van Beethoven: String trio in c minor, Op. 9 No. 3 (Diaz, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Thursday, August 4, 7:30 PM, Washington Congregational Church

Antonin Dvořák: Terzetto, Op. 77 for two violins and viola (Pena, Macomber, Popoff)

Ingolf Dahl: Concerto a Tre for clarinet, violin, and cello (Macomber, Jackson, Anderson)

*W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in G major, K. 387 (Macomber, Pena, Popoff, Anderson)

Friday, August 5, 7:30 PM, Sullivan United Congregational Church

*W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in G major, K. 387 (Pena, Macomber, Popoff, Anderson)

Paul Brantley: Two Songs (Dickinson premiere)

Alfred Schnittke: Hymn No. 2 (Anderson, Black)

Ingolf Dahl: Concerto a Tre for clarinet, violin, and cello (Macomber, Jackson, Popper-Keizer)

Week VI: August 9-14

Thursday, August 11, 7:30, Nelson Congregational Church

W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in B-flat, K. 458 (Itzkoff, Fulmer, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Yu-Hui Chang: Binge Delirium for solo percussion (Perkins)

Bryan Christian: Airs no Oceans keep (Arnold, Gilbert, Fulmer, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

William Grant Still: Four Indigenous Portraits for flute and string quartet (Gilbert, Fulmer, Itzkoff, Fong, Li)

Friday, August 12, 7:30, Dublin Emmanuel Church

(Same as August 11, Nelson)

Saturday, August 13, 7:30, Jaffrey First Church

W. A. Mozart: String Quartet in B-flat, K. 458 (Itzkoff, Fulmer, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

Alberto Ginastera: Impresiones de la Puna for flute and string quartet (Gilbert, Itzkoff, Fulmer, Fong, Popper-Keizer)

Yu-Hui Chang: Binge Delirium for solo percussion (Perkins)

Mendelssohn: String Quintet, Op 87 in B-flat (Fulmer, Itzkoff, Fong, Bagg, Popper-Keizer)

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